I was recently asked by Tech Bucket Blog to write a review on Avatar.  I thought I would repost it here –  and add some brief marketing thoughts.

For starters, I have not been to the cinema in over three years.  This is for two primary reasons – 1) I have a three year old child and 2) nothing has truly captured my attention enough to want to go.

Over the past few months, I have heard so much hype about Avatar that my curiosity got the best of me – and I’m honestly not a big sci-fi fanatic.  I had the good fortune of seeing Avatar in the IMAX before too much information has been revealed.  I had only heard that it cost over $300 million and was in 3D.  While it’s not known exactly how much was spent marketing the film, I can only speculate that the revenue numbers would not be dramatically different if they had spent $0.  With a movie of this size and magnitude, the power of buzz marketing is the best endorsement.  Every media outlet and entertainment program has something to say. Friends, families, and colleagues are all posting personal opinions and recommendations on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social media sites.  The film is capturing major headlines around the world.

All I can say is WOW!  What a phenomenal piece of film work.  It was truly a riveting journey – it had a fascinating ability to make you feel like part of the action.  James Cameron successfully created the illusion that you were on another planet – Pandora.  The Navi (alien) characters were well developed and believable.

While the special effects were ridiculously brilliant and worthy of an Oscar (in that category), the story was heartfelt as well.  The movie evoked a variety of emotions throughout the plot.  There were clear ties to today’s current events – the most recognizable being our quest for more natural resources and our willingness to go to war to obtain them.

Since I don’t think this movie will have the same impact on a home TV (even on a 70” HDTV), this is a must-see on the big screen.